Red Feathered Lure
by Habeous Corpus
Summary: Jane tries a new tactic for drawing out Red John. But will he himself be sucked in? Collaboration Fic Between T.GLover and Habeous Corpus.
1. Chapter 1

"_There is still one thing I can try. One thing I can think of that would draw out Red-John. Everyone's going to hate me for it though. I know that. But the idea is pretty perfect apart from that. I have grown to like every member of this team, but they don't understand, they will never understand, I hope they never have to understand. I know she would never take to the idea, even if she did, the others would talk her out of it and so would the powers that be. So I have to be a little sneaky. That won't be hard. I will have to deceive. Again that won't be hard. I have been deceitful most of my life. I have to do this. I have been left with no other choice. I have to catch him. I have to kill him. I have to. It's the only way I can get it all to go away. The feelings are as bad now as they were then, that night they died I died with them. Now I am a shell, the shell that is going to avenge them, avenge them by putting a friend in the firing line. But I have to, it will work and will catch him, so I hope she will forgive my actions, eventually. I have to use her, I have to, it's the only way. I need to put all of this to rest. Try and eventually move on with my life, but while he is still out there I can't do that. While he still kills innocent people, I cannot do that. I loved my family too much to let this go. So I will have to sacrifice her, make her a target. Make Lisbon a target. I have to convince her to get closer to me, more personal with me, outside of work. I need to make Red-John think and believe I have moved on, that I was 'happy'. That will infuriate him, he will not be able to stop himself trying to kill her. I would never let him actually get that far. I will never let it get that far, not purposely anyway. But if she was close enough to him that he believed enough to try and kill her, then he would be there to stop him. This has to end and this is the only way it will. It will be ended by using Lisbon, my friend and boss, as bait. Now that is decided, how do I convince her to get closer, without sounding like I'm in love with her or anything? I could hypnotize her... No, that would really piss her off. I'm going to have to be tactful and very careful. I don't want her to get the wrong idea, but then maybe it would be better if she did, would look more convincing. But no, I can't go that far. I will have to use her pitiful excuse of a social life to draw her in, that would work. Take her out places, just me and her. Like dinner or the movies. Any sort of date like scenarios. Scenarios she wouldn't make to many assumptions about though."_

_Everyone had arrived in the office, the thoughts of my plan still running through my mind. I have been thinking about it all night. Thinking of different ways and scenarios. It was a tough challenge, a difficult way of doing this. But I have made my decision, this is the way it has to be. This is going to work. I'm finally going to get Red-John._

"Jane?…Jane?" she nudged him, shaking him from his thoughts. He looked up at her.

"Yes, Agent Lisbon?"

"Have you been here all night? Again?"

"No, last night I went to lots of places, why?"

"Did your body leave this office?"

"No, not my body, but my mind has traveled far," he smiled, standing up.

"Jane. We have talked about this, if you don't start listening to me. I'll take the couch away! You understand me?" He nodded and she left him to do what he always does, bother the rest of the team. He made idle chit-chat with Cho, but he was busy with old paper work that Lisbon had been pestering him for. He showed Rigsby a few 'magic' tricks but he was far to easy to convince and then confuse with his explanation of the trick. So he got soon got bored of that. Then he bugged Van Pelt, mostly about her obvious relationship with Rigsby. Then she snapped and he backed off. That left him with nothing to do. So he decided to make a start on his plan. He went to speak with Lisbon.

"If you've come to bother me because the others have bored you or told you to get lost, then don't. I have paper work coming out my ass and I really need to get on with it!" She then looked up at him hovering in the door way, his usual grin on his face. "Okay, what are you up to?" she asked, knowing that grin only ever meant trouble. Or at least some sort of stupidity at the least.

"I want to ask you something, wait no, I will be more assertive. I wanted to tell you something."

"Okay, if I listen will you leave me alone?"

"Yes, well for a while anyway." he smiled at her and she motioned him to come in and invited him to ask his question.

"You're having dinner with me tonight, you'll have to wear something formal, it's a fancy place. Also I don't want you to argue, just be at this address at 8:30. I promise you'll like it, the food is amazing and it isn't cheap."

"Why? What do you want?" she asked, wondering about the suspicious invite.

"To have dinner with you, that's all, no hidden agenda, I promise" What a lie that was, it had a very major hidden agenda, but he couldn't tell her that, it would ruin everything.

"Really? Formal? You know I don't do formal," she told him, trying to protest.

"Just be there and make sure you get dressed up. All girls love to get dressed up. I guarantee it will be worth it."

"Fine, if I agree, will you go away?"

"Absolutely."

"Fine, I'll be there…now go!"

With that he left. Step one had worked, he just hoped she showed up. It took a lot of persuasion to get the table and he didn't want it to get wasted. But then he could always let Rigsby take it, but no way he could afford it and he would never accept money from him, so that idea wouldn't work. So he just hoped Lisbon would show. He just hoped she took the bait and become the bait.

_I need to make sure this works. It has to work._


	2. Chapter 2

Last Chapter:

This Chapter: Habeous Corpus

Lisbon frowned and shifted her weight to the balls of her feet. These shoes were cute, but torturous. Like a Hello Kitty themed Iron Maiden. Jane had better hurry his fool self and get here...

"Aha! I was afraid you wouldn't come, Agent Lisbon." Professional, yet affectionate. Only Jane would pull that off. She turned around to find none other than Patrick Jane standing behind her in a tux.

In. A. Tux.

She took a deep breath, unscrambling her thoughts. "What, and give you the satisfaction of winning? I think not, Mr. Jane."

Jane smiled. "Wonderful. We have a quiet table towards the back."

"Well, that's very forward." Quiet table in the back? Was he trying to hit on her? Jane was gutsy, but hopefully not _this_ gutsy.

Jane's eyes widened. "No, that's not what, I … Well, you see..." He held up his hands. "Some of the patrons can get annoying when they are inebriated. So, I figured you'd prefer quiet." He slipped his hands back in his pockets, and his signature grin resettled itself on his face. "They say it makes the food taste better."

Interesting. He was embarrassed at the prospect of romance. Very interesting. This could be a fun night. The maitre'd stepped over to them and showed them to their table. Jane pulled out Lisbon's chair like a gentleman, and helped her seat herself.

As they settled themselves in their seats, a small band in the corner struck up "That's Amore." Lisbon silently said a prayer of thanks. The music would give her the perfect way to start her ribbing. "Oh, I love this song. It's so romantic. It's even better in Italian."

Jane smiled warmly. "I speak Italian."

Lisbon grinned back. "Do you really? I only speak Spanish."

"Well, you need to for your job," he replied. The waiter stepped up to the table to take their wine orders. Lisbon ordered Savignon Blanc, while Jane ordered a plain white.

"Are you going to profile my choice of drink?" Lisbon teased.

He peeked at her over the top of the food menu. "Sure. It goes well with chicken." He turned his attention back to the menu. It was interesting how Lisbon was trying to get one over on him. He felt bad that he was deceiving her like this, but it had to be done. Jane couldn't pinpoint exactly why it was necessary, but he knew that it was. It had to be done. Lisbon chattered all throughout the meal, and Jane found himself enjoying the conversation. Once they had finished, Jane found himself offering to drive her home. All right, that wasn't part of the plan. Lisbon picked up her evening bag, and headed to the door. Jane stood next to the table, almost shocked at what he had done. 

Lisbon turned back. "Earth to Jane! Are you coming?"

He half-lunged to catch up with her, nearly tripping himself on the table. Fortunately, he managed to catch himself before he face-planted. Jane's father always told him to watch out for the short ones, and Jane didn't doubt him right now. Damn, she was screwing his head up.

No. He could salvage this. He swiped his credit card, formulating a plan.

First: Shy Little Boy Act.

As they walked out to the valet parking area, Jane snuck looks at Lisbon. She noticed, and tried not to look back. Finally, curiosity won out and she looked him dead in the eye. "What are you doing?"

Jane blushed slightly (it was nice being able to do that on will) and looked away. "Nothing," he mumbled.

Second: Chivalrous Knight.

As their car pulled up, Jane helped her in, and closed the door for her. When they pulled up to her apartment building, he parked the car. "I'll walk you in."

"No, you don't..."

"I do. I want to."

"All right."

Third: Tease...

The walkway was dark, and Jane took full advantage of this fact. He took Lisbon's hand, ignoring its warmth, and led her up the drive. When they stopped in front of her door, he didn't let go. "Lisbon..." he began, getting close enough to suggest intimacy. Lisbon moved closer too, open to it.

...And Deny.

Jane shook his head, dropping her hand. "I-I... Good night." He started making his way back to the car. He paused, turning around to gauge her reaction. She slouched, facing him, seemingly very disappointed (and needy).

Mission Accomplished.

0000


	3. Chapter 3

Last Chapter : Habeous Corpus

This Chapter : T.

Chapter Three

Patrick knew the night had gone better than he could ever have hoped. Problem was he wasn't quite sure what to do now. Did he lead her on completely or back off a little?

How committed was he to the plan? She already had trust issues, did he really want to make them truly deep seated issues by playing with her heart?

He was definitely committed. And things had to keep moving at a good pace, otherwise it would take years to get Red John to see he had moved on with his life. At least when he was in Lisbon's company he was oblivious to the darkness he felt inside. Now all he had to do was draw her in a little further.

He raised his hand and lightly knocked on Lisbon's apartment door. See, if he gives her a lift to work, then she couldn't really argue at him taking her home, meaning he could get an invite. Giving him perfect opportunity to create a relaxing evening in. He would give her a little 'I'm opening up to you' moment. Then leave.

"Jane? What…?"

"I'm here to escort you to work…Hope you don't mind me showing up like this, but I thought it would be good for the economy. You know me, love being green." He gave her his best shy smile.

"Err…sure why not…" That wasn't good. She seemed hesitant of the idea. Last night she seemed to have taken the bait. "I'll grab my coat then." She left him at the door and grabbed her things to leave.

In the car, it was obvious Lisbon was dying to ask him something, she kept giving him a glare and dithered on the small talk. Then she asked what she wanted to know.

"What are you up to?"

"What do you mean what am I up to? I'm up to nothing."

"You wine and dine me…then pick me up for work…I don't get it."

"I thought we had been through this, we trust each other. We're friends. I enjoyed last night and thought I would say thanks by going into work with you…don't worry that's all. I swear." He finally turned his head to look at her. It was obvious she wasn't convinced. "Okay, truth is. You're right, I need to get on with my life. I want a friend. Someone who I can talk to, someone who trusts me as much as I trust them…and that's all it is. I want to have friends again. And I want you to be one of them, if that's okay?"

She was shocked, he had just opened up to her. Only a little, but still it was progress. "Okay. We can work on that. I could learn to be your friend," she laughed. She bought it.

At work, not a lot was going on. No major case they needed to be on. It was unusually quiet, a little too quiet. But Jane was kind of grateful for that. It gave him chance to goof off with Lisbon a little. A little chit-chat here and there, getting her a coffee refill and of course being as helpful to her as possible. But then, it would help. If they got a case, would add to the whole 'I've totally got your back for once' scenario. Give him a chance to prove he could behave and act like a friend and adult. He would just have to wait it out. A case would raise its ugly head eventually. Problem was, would he let his skills in the field get in the way of his progression with Lisbon? No, this had to work, so he would have to behave himself. No hidden agendas and no being deceitful and going behind her back. Straight down the line, be the perfect 'consultant' and just consult. Work with the team and share thoughts and ideas, mainly with Lisbon, show her he did trust her, then she hopefully, will trust him, give him some leeway and let him venture on the many ideas he formed when on cases. When she does that he will know he can move it up a little. He just had to see she totally trusted him. Because if she can see it, Red John will not be able to miss it. There is no way the murderer would be able to resist the temptation he was offering him.


End file.
